Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 12 | The Sir's Daughter

After everyone had fed themselves with roasted lamb and other nice foods, everyone chatted and partied.

Agent 34 quickly shoved the last sliver of lamb on his plate, and got up from the table and approached Arenia, who was talking to Fáolar, but was stopped in his place by villagers who wanted to speak with him.

"Gem-man! Do you want to destroy Lord Braunick?" One asked him. "Yes." Agent 34 hastily replied, and shuffled past the villagers surrounding him. Although the tried to get past them, they refused to budge and followed him around.

"Exactly how strong are you compared to a normal human?" One asked.

"Much stronger!" Agent 34 replied, and looked back at Arenia to see her and Fáolar returning to the castle, and disappoint went through him. Agent 34 stopped trying to reach the female elf, and answered all of the villager's questions with sadness within him.

"What's your name?" A girl asked the elf.

"I have no name, but I prefer to go by Agent 34." Agent 34 responded.

"Agent 34, can we see the gem?"

"The gem is back in my temporary bedroom." 

There were a few moans of disappointment, but the elves quickly got back to their questioning.

"Can we go to the Zena with you?"

"Can I have the next gem?"

"Can I help you fight Braunick?"

His newfound fame was starting to overwhelm Agent 34, and he mentally screamed and shoved past the crowd and made his way to the castle. 

The elf quickly opened the big doors, and shut them before anyone else could get in after him. The villagers banged on the doors a little, shouting for Agent 34 to come back out, and eventually left once they realized Agent 34 wasn't coming back out.

Agent 34 sat down with his back against the doors to the castle, and buried his face in his arms.

"The villagers are sure tough to deal with, huh?" 

Agent 34 looked up and saw another female elf towering above him. "What?" 

"I know your feeling. Have you ever been to a human village? They'll harass an elf like it's famous and rich." The girl held out a hand towards Agent 34 and he took it and shook it. "I'm Ismara, daughter of Sir Fáolar. And you are?"

"Agent 34, gem wielder." Ismara suddenly used their linked hands to pull Agent 34 up from the ground, and they stood face-to-face.

She was strikingly beautiful, and looked to be around the same age as Agent 34. She had long black hair that hid behind her pointed ears, and had bright blue eyes that could blind a man if looked at for too long, and also wore a pretty blue dress which matched with her eyes.

"You going to the Zena?" Ismara asked Agent 34, and he nodded. "I work for the Zena. I expect to see you there sometime!" She winked attractively.

"What are you doing in here when the party is out there?" Agent 34 asked the elf.

"I could ask you the same thing. It's your party. But, I'm in here because the village is just too much for me to handle. They aren't used to seeing people like you. The stronger ones, the ones that actually have a shot at doing something in this world. They've never left their tiny village before, but they have grown strong and thick due to the labor they endure here. They could be useful in battle if they just put their minds to it."

"They surrounded me and asked me way too many questions for me to answer," Agent 34 sighed. "I couldn't handle it. Honestly, I might leave early. I'd like to get to the Zena as fast as possible so we can end Braunick once and for all. After all this is over, I will have to get rid of the gem's power. One being can't possess all this energy. I'd be unstoppable."

"I get your point," Ismara said, and strode deeper into the room. Agent 34 followed behind her, looking at the pictures carved into the wall. "One does not deserve that much power, it doesn't matter who you are. Even having one gem is pushing it enough. I believe that each gem should be distributed to worthy leaders of the land, and each person should be a protector of Renya, and all of them work together to rid evil of the land."

An tiny light bulb flickered to life inside Agent 34's head. "You know, that could work," He told Ismara, and she turned around to face him. "If I could convince the Zena, they might just do that. Then I won't have to force the energy out of my body, because you know, that would hurt. And there's a chance I probably cannot do that."

"Well, you know, Braunick already has a gem, so the person that should possess that gem needs to kill him, and the only thing in this land strong enough to kill him is you, and then you'd get Braunick's energy from the gem—someone will have two gems no matter what if you wish to slay Braunick."

"True, true," Agent 34 was thinking quickly. "anyways, what work do you do for the Zena?"

Ismara turned back around to continue the walk, and Agent 34 quickly ran to walk side-by-side with her. "I'm pretty much a messenger—you know how Ilrenia is part of the Zena right? Well I just deliver messages back and forth. They occasionally use me in battle whenever they need me, I'm a great warrior, not gonna lie, but I'm not used for much."

"Maybe I could get that to change," Agent 34 told her. "Would you like to assist us in our journey to the Zena?"

Ismara stopped in her tracks. "Wait, are you serious? You just met me." 

"I'm totally sure," Agent 34 wanted her to join them. Agent 34 liked her a lot, and if she proved good in combat, maybe she could help them. "and to give you a reason to join us, I want you to have a sword-fight with me. In front of all of Ilrenia."

Ismara was taken a little aback. "What?" She exclaimed, and horror spread over her face. "I cannot possibly beat a gem-wielder!"

"C'mon!" Agent 34 begged her. "I'm not a good swordsman! You can at least stand a chance against me. Can you spellweave? Maybe we could have a spellweaving battle?"

"I can spellweave, but you know how dangerous those battles are?" Ismara was trying everything in her power not to battle him in some form.

"Please," Agent 34 asked one last time.

"F-fine." She stuttered, crossing her arms and turning away stubbornly.

"Tomorrow morning?" Agent 34 asked, and walked around to where she was facing now. "We could depart the day after we battle."

"I guess," she sighed.

"But hey," Agent 34 placed a hand on her shoulder, and it was surprisingly cold. "You have to prove to me, mainly Arenia, that you can be useful to us. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Would you like to go to my bedroom and talk some more before you go back to bed?"

Agent 34 quickly accepted the offer, and she guided him down the long halls of Fáolar's castle and to her giant bedroom, where they talked the rest of the night away. After hours of just talking, Agent 34 saw the sun had set and the feast had ended without him returning to actually talk with the villagers. Agent 34 sadly left Ismara's room and walked around the castle until he stumbled upon his own bedroom, and passed out on the bed.